Col. Bruce came walking past me and I quickly gave him a salute. The next thing I know he hands me a Pez dispenser. So I say thanks and stick it in my pocket.
A few minutes later, I decide to eat a piece, but when I open it I find a half-eaten piece of Pez with fresh Col. Bruce saliva on it. Amusing.
See you next year folks!

true story;
Mon. afternoon, during the Spearhead show, I ask Col. Bruce to have his picture taken with me. He agreed and walked with me to the railing of the ship. After the picture was taken, he asked me if he knew me. I replied , "No sir, I seen you play many times but we have never met." He nodded his head then leaned in close to my face, looked me in the eyes and said, "Boy, you ARE and Aries, and you were born on March 28th or April 2nd."............. I was born on March 28th!!!!!! I nearly shit on myself. I don't know what happened out there. Col. Bruce is from planet Zimbe. Col. Bruce for president. Bo

JC1 during the late night Galactic party. It's the last show of the cruise and EVERYONE was having a blast. I see one of the waitresses at the bottom of the stairs going to the upper deck. She was dancing hard core. She took off her apron and threw it on the ground and said, "I no work more," and kept on dancing. One of my many highlights.

I know this will come off as another whimsical long-winded post I am prone to writing, but I thought I would share some thoughts and a little chunk of my life with ya'll while I am waiting for this plane to take off.

BTW, sometimes if the timing is right leaving yourself vulnerable with self-indulgence is healthy.

I just got back from the best musical experience of my life. After doing visuals for the Ice Castle Film gigs in Miami (Mike Gordon from Phish joined George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic) I spent the last 8 days on the “Jam Cruise I and II” and it was incredible. We were able to truly live in the moment and concentrate on making the best out of an opportunity ... utilizing the valuable experience we have been able to soak in as a visual artist, DP (no that doesn't stand for "Dumb Polack" , musician and promoter in the last 5-6 years.

These musicians were so down to earth. Some of the best in the world. I was able to work with true artists ... completely into their craft. The ship had about 1000 music lovers packed on a luxury liner going to the Bahamas and the Keys. The party never really stopped ...

Some of the highlights: Getting permission to take a room they planned on using for a "disco night" and transforming it into a "Happening" type atmosphere ... the 'activity dude' on the ship, my man Seth, walked up to Eric Crittenden, formerly of the Waz, who mans the camera for me on the visual boards and asked if he could fill in and “DJ” the Disco night ... his eyes lit up ... we knew we had a chance to make something happen ... we got permission and trust to create something better than just a disco night we called "Spontaneous Combustion: a Funk filled Jazz Jam" ... Eric summoned up the boys at Moonshine Backline in the bottom of the ship and threw together a room full of gear ... I took over the DJ booth with visuals and a few artists on board had hung their work all over the walls ... the room looked real nice in an almost Warhol kind of way ... and it was intimate cuz the room could only hold like 100 people ... photo at http://www.garbaz.com/2004/cruiseweb1.jpg

After getting organized with a sound man and securing backline we were able to walk up to these stars and ask them to be in our jam ... one of the first was Rob Wasserman (ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!?!?) ...

"Hey Rob, we are putting together an intimate night of jazz and funk ... wanna be in our band? We would be more than honored to have you sit in?!?" This guy didn't hesitate ... Rob responding with "I may not be up on the standards, it's been a while ... but all I wanna do is PLAY!!!!" I have chills just reflecting back on the energy of EXTREMELY TALENTED people just wanting to jam, not worrying about bread or the past or the future and living in the moment ... all these guys wanted to do was play their asses off and get funky …

We ended up recruiting revolving players that included Wasserman, Karl Denson (Lenny Kravitz & his Tiny Universe) on sax, Hope Williams (Deep Banana Black Out) on flute, vocals and sax, Terence Higgins and Jamie McLean of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on percussion and guitars, DJ Motion Potion from LA using the turn table as an instrument, 4 guys from Tiny Universe sat in including John Staton on drums (a rising star) and David Welth on the Rhodes, Ron Johnson on bass and tasteful chops from Chris Littlefield (trumpets). We also had Phil Ferlino (keys) and Brian Carey (latin percussion) from the New Monsoon sit in.

Crittenden (my best friend and band mate) was the front man leading this all star jam on sax, keys and vocals running thru his originals and jazz classics such as “Trying to Make It Real Compared To What” "Footprints" and funk joints like James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Sly and Family Stone. Eric had 2 managers asking for press kits by the end of the night. He tore up the place. He ended up sitting in with many bands on the main stage including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Particle, Galactic, Michael Franti and Spearhead and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. In the past Crittenden has put the camera down and jumped on stage to sax solo on the road with me for moe., Dickey Betts and Jefferson Starship. But this was different ... it was electric and magical.

Les Claypool left an impression on me I can't really describe. Doing the visuals for Les was over the top ... he had all us freaks doing pirate chants ... it was outstanding ... and funny as all hell. What a freak, in a REALLY good way. I must say when the manager said they usually don't use visuals I was a bit intimidated ... he said he wanted it "dark and psychedelic" ... that I know how to do!!! ... I had a good night using a multiple layer of video strobes on his bass and face and I am pretty sure I will be working with them again in the future ... the highlight was a 20 minute Floyd cover of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" in which he proceeded to drop jaws ... this guy is amazing ... his stage presence glows after like 2 notes and not an impression on his face as if he was playing poker ... I have memories of my final mix monitor reflecting extraordinary subject/compositions in the frames of what I do. Pure eye candy. Photo at: http://www.garbaz.com/2004/lesweb1.jpg

Oh yeah we got to snorkel, play beach soccer, kayak and eat and drink with some of my favorite bands ... got back to Buffalo yesterday and it is like a 30 below wind chill?!?!!? YIKES an unkind culture shock, but thank God I am back with the family! We can't wait for Langerado!

Well anyway thanks for letting me share this experience with ya, I have more to say but realize this is already obnoxiously long ... stay warm!!!!

my favorite moment was on JCII (I was on both, god help me) - summed it all up:

Sunset - an absolutely spectacular sunset where the clouds didn't move an inch as we sailed towards and then past them - very trippy. There must've been about 50 people at the front of the ship by the time the sun was really about to go down. A reverent silence falls over the crowd. You can feel the peace, it's palpable. When all of a sudden, at top volume, mind you, we hear...

"BOOOD-DOOO-DOOO-DOOOOOOOO... MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. WOULD THE FOLLOWING PASSENGERS PLEASE COME TO THE INFORMATION DESK..." She then proceeds to read off about 20 names (I shit you not). Everyone starts to chuckle, then laugh. She hits the end of her list and the sun's about 2/3rds down. A collective sigh falls, only to be stifled by, "I REPEAT... WOULD THE FOLLOWING PASSENGERS..." She continues on, repeating ALL of the names all over again, finishing the last name (wait for iiiittt...) at precisely the moment the sun disappears.

It was hysterical. An experience that only could've happened on that boat at that moment. Was anyone else there? I'll never forget it. Killed me.

my favorite moment was on JCII (I was on both, god help me) - summed it all up:

Sunset - an absolutely spectacular sunset where the clouds didn't move an inch as we sailed towards and then past them - very trippy. There must've been about 50 people at the front of the ship by the time the sun was really about to go down. A reverent silence falls over the crowd. You can feel the peace, it's palpable. When all of a sudden, at top volume, mind you, we hear...

"BOOOD-DOOO-DOOO-DOOOOOOOO... MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. WOULD THE FOLLOWING PASSENGERS PLEASE COME TO THE INFORMATION DESK..." She then proceeds to read off about 20 names (I shit you not). Everyone starts to chuckle, then laugh. She hits the end of her list and the sun's about 2/3rds down. A collective sigh falls, only to be stifled by, "I REPEAT... WOULD THE FOLLOWING PASSENGERS..." She continues on, repeating ALL of the names all over again, finishing the last name (wait for iiiittt...) at precisely the moment the sun disappears.

It was hysterical. An experience that only could've happened on that boat at that moment. Was anyone else there? I'll never forget it. Killed me.

next year. i am totally bringing some screwdrivers and shit and doing whatever it takes to disconnect that intercom in my cabin!

I am blushing right now! Proposing to my best friend was definately the highlight of many magical things that happened on both Jamcruises!!!

Michael came to me and Rachel seperately and told us it was the most beautiful thing he has had happen at any of his shows! I couldn't believe he said that. Thank you to all of the people that we saw for the next two days (they even came up to us on the street in Key West!) giving us their kind words and blessings. I am so happy that it made your cruise! It was a very spontainious thing (I didn't even have a ring) and Spearhead was most awesome for the delivery!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. To the person who mentioned bringing a screwdriver, you don't need to go to extreme measures. The ship supplied almost everything in your room. The lid for the ice bucket was exactly the same size of the speaker grill. Blend a little electrical tape into the mix and you have one perfect sound shield. It was actually louder coming through the door in our room. The ice bucket top actually blocked out allllll of the sound. So pack your electrical tape everyone next time and get some sleep!

P.S. To the person who mentioned bringing a screwdriver, you don't need to go to extreme measures. The ship supplied almost everything in your room. The lid for the ice bucket was exactly the same size of the speaker grill. Blend a little electrical tape into the mix and you have one perfect sound shield. It was actually louder coming through the door in our room. The ice bucket top actually blocked out allllll of the sound. So pack your electrical tape everyone next time and get some sleep!

Very late night/ early morning I stopped by the artist's lounge in the back of the Mermaid Lounge to see who was around. Karl D was there, I think having just finished his late night set first night of JCII (pretty sure it was that night ). We got into conversation and somehow got on the subject of Eddie Murphy and the status of his comedy career. I am of the belief that Eddie's new movies (Nutty Prof I, II and Dr Dolittles) SUCK. I understand it's for the kids and all, but for pete's sake, you can't beat Harlem Nights or Coming to America with a Disney flick ever. Karl and I disagreed. Heavily. He says Eddie's in his prime. So for the next hour or two Karl and I told each other how deluded we each were. It was hilarious. Folks were calling me out all weekend (Hey, didn't you and Karl D get in a fight the other night?). Quite memorable. And, for the record, Karl was wrong.

Another very cool thing that happened on JCII was Eric (mentioned above) and his crew letting me run the stage-projector camera for the majority of both Frog Brigade sets and one of the KDTU shows. I had a total blast doing it and was told I did a pretty damn good job. It was an honor to be part of the show. Eric was all: "Dude, let me know when you get tired of it, I'll step back in, but first I gotta go play with Particle." I informed him it was my pleasure and I would be happy to run that sucker the whole time! Thanks to Eric, Matt, and whoever else. That really made my cruise. Anytime you need a hand, let me know!

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